The Home Stretch

Hello, hello... I'm still here, slogging along on the wedding dress.

People have been asking, "Why so quiet?" Well, ALL I've been doing is working on the wedding dress. It's all white, which makes for snoozy photos. And progress is slow. "I basted five inches today"--perhaps not the most interesting reading.

The dress is nearly finished. It needs a hook and eye above the zipper, then hemming and a final press. I'm going to wait and hem the dress once we're in St. Lucia and the dress hangs for a day or so. A bias-cut dress can end up with a wavy hemline. Hope to avoid that.

There's been only one crisis. Somehow a black mark appeared on one panel of the dress a couple weeks ago. It probably came in contact with my shoe when I was pressing the skirt. There was nothing to be done but rip out that one section, recut the piece, and resew. It set me back a few hours, but this is why I purchased extra fabric. And this is also why there is now a no-shoe rule in the sewing room.

Quilting--I miss you so much....

Two weeks from Saturday....

Fitting

I spent this past weekend in Washington, DC, visiting my daughter and taking care of some standard mother/daughter pre-wedding business. We visited my daughter's hairdresser and hit the Bobbi Brown counter at Macy's--all for DIY hair and makeup tips.

Many thanks to Ashleigh at Bang and to the lovely Grace at Macy's.


We enjoyed several great meals, the best of which was prepared by my son-in-law to be. We downed a cocktail or two; we did some power walking in the neighborhood, which includes the DC Zoo. We got pedicures! Good times.

But the main event was the trying-on of the dress, with breath held and fingers crossed. I'm happy to say that things are indeed looking good. One big sigh of relief.

The dress looks rough here--all the seams are hand-basted, and nothing has been pressed. The drapey neckline:


Side seaming:


The back. The only real alteration will be to ease in back neckline gappiness that is pinned in this picture.


Feeling pretty good about all this! Of course, now I have just about a month to actually make the dress.

Bias Tubing 101

I'm making a couple other wedding accessories and spent tonight working some of the sewing magic I love the most--making bias tubing.

Bias tubing would make delicate spaghetti straps or loop-type buttonholes--so elegant. In this case, the tubing will be a drawstring for a ring-bearer's bag. This is such an easy process; I thought I'd share it.

And by the way, check out my new yardstick!!


A few posts ago, I was wishing for a 4 inch wide yardstick and wonder of wonders, it exists! A friend turned me on to this Olipfa one. Happy, happy.

So, the bias tubing. I started by cutting bias strips approximately 1 yard long by 1 inch wide.


Here is the crucial part: take the strips to the ironing board, spray to dampen, and then press, tugging and stretching the strips to the max as you press. The bias strips have stretch, and this pressing process removes the stretchability but allows the bias to retain a fluidity.


The pressed strips will now be about 1/2 inch wide, give or take.


After pressing, fold the strip in half lengthwise and sew down the length of the strip, just about along the midpoint between fold and raw edge.


Another nice thing about bias strips is that they don't ravel. I can point out nice things about bias all day. Yadda, yadda. I guess we've already established that I do like myself some bias...

Here is a tube that's been sewn.


After the stitching is done, turn the strip right side out. There are many fancier, more expensive turning tools, but nothing works better than an old-fashioned bodkin.


I think this one cost about $1.98. Run the bodkin inside the tube, pushing the fabric on the bodkin to accommodate the length of the fabric tube.


The bodkin is pretty low tech. It has a hook with a closure on the end. Insert the hook into the fabric, close the hook, and start pulling the tube right side out. Be careful of the hooked fabric end--the hook can sometimes open during turning, but you have only to re-grab with the hook and keep pulling.

A slick fabric like this charmeuse turns like a breeze, but cotton can be a bit more problematic. I would never try to seam the bias strips. You are limited to the length of bias tubing you can bunch up on the bodkin. Generally, the yield will be at least 1 yard of tubing per strip of fabric.


Voila--the results: yards and yards of fine bias tubing--a thing of beauty. I love it!

BTW--The wedding dress is basted together, ready for its first plane ride this Friday. I'll be taking it to Washington, DC, for a fitting on the bride. Fingers crossed, please, for a minimum of problems.